Meet Mr Rusty

[cucvrus]

Today I brought home a trailer I bought several months ago. I towed it off the lot at the sale point to a friends place. And he stored it for me. He brought it over today with the roll back and we towed it back the driveway. Tows real nice. Almost like it was designed for railroad use. I do not think the cargo bed of the trailer weighs any more then the CUCV M1028 stock bed does. They are both about the same weight. I see that it lines up and looks like an easy mount. I can even put the stock rear step bumper back on with some new LED Stop Tail Turn & Back up oval lamps recessed in the step bumper. The bed sits a little high but I can get it down about 2 more inches by notching the crossmembers on the cargo bed. I looked everywhere for wheels. I am just going to buy a new trailer axle with 8 lug wheels and install it. I will make a nice flat bed for the side by side out of the frame. Very well built trailer frame. How old is it?

 

[cucvrus]

I did a little work to Mr Rusty tonight. Very little. i sprayed the under side of the front differential with under coating. I want to get that back in this weekend and get Mr Rusty back on 4 wheels in the next 2 weeks.Also a new copper brass radiator from Autozone for Mr Rusty. $330. US.

 

[cucvrus]

Busy Busy today.Mr Rusty was at center stage today. We installed the front differential and all new steering linkage. New shocks and I remembered that a few years back I had a severely wrecked M1028 and the front Dana 60 parts were on the bottom of the scrap pile we dug around and found the tin backing plates still under the pile. They were bent some but I hammered them out painted them and installed them. Moving along nicely. Tomorrow hubs and wheels should be back on. I want to get rolling on this winter is approaching fast we are in September already. Thank you for looking.

 

[cucvrus]

Today I spent a few hours needle scaling the underside of the cab and the frame rails. I installed the repacked hubs and rotors and put rebuilt calipers and brake hoses on. Slow but sure. Snow is on the way I must keep moving. Thank you for looking. It is taking a lot of work but it is coming along just fine.

 

[cucvrus]

I had a full day of progress on Mr Rusty today. it was cut short by rain. I did get to install a new replacement core support. Not new but OEM GM support from a 1987 K5 Blazer I parted out.Thanks for looking. Sunny days ahead. Mr Rusty will not be getting any military paint job. He will be painted a gloss tan color. Owners request. I went for it. I hope to have his doors off next week and get working on the cab corners and rocker panels. I have replacements that need welded into place.

 

[cucvrus]

I did some work to Mr Rusty today. I failed to charge the battery to the camera so no pictures tonight. I will try harder tomorrow. I was all over the place tonight. I did some rocker panel repair and also worked on the new trailer bed. I have to stay focused on this project as the weather will not be in my favor soon. Thank you. Be patient and I will post pictures later.

 

[cucvrus]

Tonight after the Mule was worked on. I put a left rocker panel on Mr Rusty. This is the way we did it in the old days. Brass gas welding. Tomorrow I will grind it all clean and get it ready for the right side to replace that one. I am trying to hustle on the Mule so I can get Mr Rusty in the barn. Doing finish work outside is a bit difficult. Thank you for looking. What do you think so far?

 

[german m1008]

Mr. Rusty has lucky, he is in the right place.

 

[corvette9]

That takes me back. When I started out thats all we had. I have not seen a panel brazed on since I was a kid. Got our first mig welder in the early 80's. Good old brass welding is a lost art. Looks like your using a 0 or 00 torch tip. To bad I live so far away. I'd help you with those projects just to give me something to do. I'm getting bored again with no project to work on.
Keep up the good work. I like reading your posts.

Brian G.

 

[cucvrus]

I still have a nice M1009 for your boredom. You need one of them.

 

[cucvrus]

Mr Rusty had some work done on the left rocker and cab corner. As long as the weather holds out we are going to be good. it looks like good weather the next couple days. That is a fire blanket covering the dash and seat area.

 

[cucvrus]

The left side is all completed and in primer as you can see. now onto the right side. Getting closer to complete.

 

[cucvrus]

Mr Rusty is getting a patch riveted to the bottom of the door. Remember I am building a snow plow truck not doing a restoration. I have to keep telling myself that. The new doors are not in the budget on this rebuild and the doors are fine and will last a long time on the current truck assignment. This truck is 30 + years old and has 35K miles on it. Thank you for looking.

 

[cucvrus]

After a quick inexpensive repair on the right door bottom we are moving right along. Right rocker roughed in. I must reinstall the door to get a good fit and then weld it in place. I want this truck in the shop my Monday afternoon.

 

[cucvrus]

Mr Rusty has been allowed in the barn now. Slowly we had to push him in with Terminus M1009. It beats putting it back together in the driveway on the stones. It is a lot smaller to do the little bit of body on a cab chassis then an M1009. Moving right along. Getting ready to close shop for the season soon. Wish. The right rocker is all welded in place. It should go a bit quicker now.

 

[cucvrus]

New Energy Suspension radiator insulators. Less than $20. plus delivery. they are better than the old spongy rubber ones. I had some issues with the oil cooler lines fitting into the new radiator. I trimmed the length down on the line end that goes into the radiator fitting so the seal would seat inside the fitting. That little fiasco cost me a lot of my install time for tonight. Done for the day and liking it.

 

[cucvrus]

Finished the install of the right rocker and cab corner. Also discovered a big nest in the cowl intake area. It was loaded up well with rodents in the past. they were making a mess and the moisture was trapped in the lower air duct and rusted the duct work thru. This will help improve the air and defrost with all the grass and string removed from the cowling. Easy fix on the rust and i will put some mess over the bottom to keep the varmints out.

 

[cucvrus]

Mr Rusty was worked on today for several hours. I have all the radiator connections hooked up and am working on the wiring. I wanted to show the simple riv-nut installed that I have been using for 30 years with out fail. No power needed and it never fails. It can install 1/4" and 5/16" riv-nuts with basic hand tools. Very useful.

 

[cucvrus]

I dug out a nice set of original GM fenders for Mr Rusty. No rust thru a little dented but that will be fine. These are the genuine thing. I prefer used original parts to imported parts. That is my preference.

 

[cucvrus]

Mr Rusty still had this nice big Rust hole in the right cowling. Mr Rusty no longer has a big gaping hole in the cowling. A grumpy man fixed it on a cold rainy day in south central PA. Used a section from the CUCV hood. That way I am keeping it original.